We had the morning in Lucerne free until our departure at 12:30 which was great as I had a few last minute shopping items to get and also hoped to retrieve my lost chocolates. Halfway across the bridge it started to rain so no pictures this morning. I was lucky, however, when I arrived at the Fondue House as our wonderful waiter from last night, a young man from South Africa studying the hotel industry in Lucerne, had found my bag of goodies and put them away. Surprisingly enough, he definitely remembered the four of us! Could it be because Lynn kept bemoaning the fact that she had no more daughters to marry off and had no excuse to take him home??
We all agreed Lucerne was our favorite stop but haven't we said that at virtually every place we've visited until the next stop? Leaving Lucerne was made less painful by the fact that we boarded one of several boats on the lake and spent an hour cruising to Vitznau, a town further up the lake. This photo shows the old-fashioned steamboats that take tourists up and down the 5 lakes(cumulatively known as Lake Lucerne) in summertime.
The scenery along the lake was beautiful although my gray photos reflect the overcastweather. On the left are the luxury hotels that front the lake shore on the historic side of Lucerne.
Further along the views of small, almost isolated villages and even mansions and castles came into sight.
Many famous writers, actors and even royalty loved to spend their summers on these beautiful lakes.
Although virtually deserted in December, they still made a lovely site as we slowly cruised past them.
After about an hour, we reached our destination, the small town of Vitznau, and reboarded our bus.
At a rest stop in little while, several hospitable members seated in the back of the bus decided we needed a bit of cheer on this rainy afternoon.
They returned with several bottles of wine (fortunately screw top bottles so no Swiss Army knives were needed), cheese and bread, plus plastic cups and the party began!
The scenes along the lake were beautiful, even in the rain, and,
occasionally, the sun did break through.
One of our group even remembered visiting this island years ago. Apparently, the boat that transported visitors would pick them up when they blew a horn indicating they need a transfer back to the mainland. Definitely, a different era..
About 5:30 we drove into Zurich and were virtually astounded by the transformation of the city into a Christmas spectacular. I don't think I've even seen such a brilliant display of holiday lighting. Many buildings were almost solid lights while numerous streets had blue lights all the way down them.
Like Lucerne, however, Zurich has special events for the children. We passed this "candy cane" trolley car that had "angels" singing to the children aboard.
We had all heard about the large indoor Christmas Market in the Bahnhof (central train station) which was only a couple of blocks from our hotel. The main attraction, however, was the massive Christmas tree in the middle decorated with over 7000 Swarovski crystals. My photo does not do justice to this incredibly beautiful sight!
There is so much to see and tomorrow is our only chance so we just grabbed a quick bite to eat in the market and are trying to make this an early night. We'll need a lot of energy to cover everything thing on our list
More from Zurich tomorrow.
Linda
occasionally, the sun did break through.
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